I called my Dad today to wish him a happy birthday and asked what he planned to do to celebrate his 59th birthday. He told me he was going to take a little time to reflect on the fact he was finishing the last year of his fifth decade on this planet. There was the fact that he was healthy, had four grand children, a happy marriage, and the joy of pulling out his riding lawn mower tomorrow to mow his lawn now that Spring has finally settled in. I’m not sure why I’m posting this other then to think about the joys that can come from an appreciation for the present moment.
In contrast, I keep looking for that transfomative moment in my life. I know this is a product of one of us being in our 30’s (me) and one of us approaching 60 (him). The point I am increasingly appreciating is that transformation is not something that occurs all at once, it something that happens over time. When we are fortunate enough to have events in our life that show the product of that transformation we become appreciative of the moment we are currently in. I know I hinted at this in the post about my run in Boston (it was a moment where I noticed the transformation that has occured over the last two years). Sometimes people in our lives help us appreciate things without an event like the Boston Marathon, but are every bit as important.
Today I also received an email from someone who talked about going for a run with his daughter, a marathoner in her 30’s, and how much he looked forward to it though he may only make it 4 or 5 miles with her. He was not sure when she could out run him in both time and distance measures, but I got the sense that things had changed and he was just proud and happy to be a part of her growing up. I guess it is no coincidence that this was someone else in a more relaxed part of his life teaching me something.
These two events (not accidental in timing I suspect) gave me some time to reflect as I came home and to go for a one mile + run with my daughter who is now 10. We ran about a half a mile, walked a quarter mile, and ran a half mile home. I’m not sure when things changed from stroller to jogging partner, but there we were running together. It was a moment to appreciate transformation, and something I was glad to be part of. Who knows what will happen when, God willing, I finish my fifth decade – mowing lawns, running with Savannah as she encourages me with words about just enjoying the run and not worrying about her “training,” or whatever else may be out there. I just hope I can have people in my life to remind to appreciate the moment.
I’m sure tomorrow I’ll forget this and be back to looking for the next transformative moment. Today was a good day of running and life though.
